MIDDLETOWN >> Don’t look now, but the Upper Lake Cougars are on a pretty good roll.
Behind 22 points, five rebounds and three blocks from Kenny Hodges, Upper Lake pounded the Middletown Mustangs 68-50 in non-league varsity boys basketball action on Tuesday night at Middletown High School.
“Best game we’ve played so far,” Upper Lake coach Justin Dutcher said of a Cougars squad that was once 1-4 and is now 5-5 on the season. “Tonight we were able to put two good halves together. It was fun to see them execute and play up to their potential.”
Upper Lake scored 19 points in each of the first two quarters for a 38-25 halftime lead. The Cougars pushed their advantage to 54-36 through three quarters.
Hodges, a sophomore, had plenty of help from teammates Pancho Flores (16 points), Isaiah Garcia (10 points, five assists) and Tim Beffa (seven points).
Scoring wasn’t reported for Middletown, now 4-6 on the season.
Both teams are home Thursday — Upper Lake against Lower Lake and Middletown against Richmond.
Middletown won the junior varsity game 69-33 behind 24 points from Andres Cervantes and 10 from Keegan Cutting. Dylan Armstrong’s 15 points led the Cougars (7-4). The Mustangs improved to 7-0.
In other action Tuesday:
Ukiah 77, Lower Lake 45
At Ukiah, the Ukiah Wildcats beat the Lower Lake Trojans at their own game in non-league action.
“They wanted to run with us, which is surprising,” Lower Lake coach Shannon Tubbs said. “Not many teams want to run with us.”
Ukiah took a 40-25 lead into halftime against a cold-shooting Lower Lake squad.
“We rely on our outside shooting and it just wasn’t there tonight,” Tubbs said. “It was just one of those games.”
Hokulani Wickard’s 11 points paced the Trojans and Jordan McGrath had 10.
Lower Lake (4-6) plays Thursday night in Upper Lake.
Ukiah won the JV game 65-41. Guido Boyd led the Trojans with nine points.
Girls basketball
Clear Lake 49, Upper Lake 47
At Upper Lake, Jazzy Rice made a nice move from the high post to score a big basket with less than minute to play to lift Clear Lake past the Upper Lake Cougars in non-league action.
“It was a really strong move,” Upper Lake coach Mike Smith said.
“It was a really nice move,” Clear Lake coach Kory Reynolds said of the play that put the Cardinals ahead to stay. “She made the basket, got fouled and she made the free throw.”
Corin Alakszay’s late 3-pointer put the Cardinals (5-4) up by three points. Natalie Karlsson answered with her sixth and final 3-pointer for Upper Lake (6-5) to knot the score.
Upper Lake took a 39-32 lead into the fourth quarter before Clear Lake rallied in front midway through the final period.
“We got cold and they (Cardinals) kept chipping away,” Smith said of the fourth quarter.
Karlsson scored 33 points for the Cougars to no avail. It was the senior’s second straight 30-point-plus outing and her third of the season. She needs 11 more points to reach 1,400 for her career.
“She had some step-back threes that were impressive,” Smith said.
Camille Donald’s 18 points, including four 3-pointers, sparked the Cardinals.
“Two of those 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter,” Reynolds added.
Kiana Richardson added 11 points in the win and Rice finished with nine.
Clear Lake also won the JV game 41-21.
Upper Lake hosts Lower Lake on Thursday. Clear Lake is off until the Fort Bragg Tournament on Dec. 27-29.
JV BASKETBALL
Arcata 63, Kelseyville 25
At Arcata, the Arcata Tigers built a 31-19 halftime lead en route to a non-league win over Kelseyville in non-league JV boys action.
“They just blew our doors off,” Kelseyville coach Gus Schillinger said.
Joey Mendonca’s eight points led the Knights and Anthony Pantaleon had six.
